Danger Zone
by MrsB108
Summary: When Eliot and Parker get caught in the middle of a heist, things get far more dangerous than they could have ever imagined. Eliot/Parker
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Parker's brow was really starting to sweat now. Her concentration was at its highest as she faced off with the ridiculously high tech safe of Emmett & Hughes Corporation. Her thin fingers moved flawlessly around the multiple spin dials of the safe's forefront while her right ear pressed tightly against the cool impenetrable metal that it was comprised of.

This kind of a safe was a challenge to her, a triple bypass system combined with a touch-sensitive barrier as the secondary failsafe. As soon as she saw the safe, she felt a twinge of excitement.

"Oh snap!" she had exclaimed loudly as she approached the impressive safe in the company's darkened basement.

"Oh snap what?" crackled Hardison in her ear.

"Nothing," she whispered back as she stared at the marvel.

Another voice popped up on the radio.

"Parker, are you sure you can crack that thing? It's a freaking monster," Eliot mused. Eliot was standing out in the hall, having first taken out the five guards guarding this company's well-kept secret, and now keeping a sharp lookout for further trouble.

Parker moved closer towards the safe and reached a slender hand out towards it.

"You're not a monster, you're beautiful….." Parker said comfortingly.

A crackle fell over the radio before she heard Eliot's husky voice again.

"Parker, are you talking to the safe? Oh my God, you big fr– " his voice cut out with a burst of static and Parker simply smiled at her newest best friend, all silvery and shiny.

Parker focused her thoughts as she stared at the intricacies of the safe and began to sharpen her focus. This kind of job would require her full attention and skill. She began to work; slowly at first and then laboriously as she learned the safe's _clicks_ and _thunks _with her ears and hands.

She wasn't sure how long had passed, maybe fifteen minutes or so, before chatter of the radio broke her from her almost meditative concentration.

"Um, guys?" Hardison said, a hesitant urgency in the sound of his voice.

"What is it?" Eliot replied, ready to move.

"There's like……_a small army_ headed your way. And they're already in the damn parking lot."

Eliot grumbled to himself.

"How many?" he answered, trying to remember what was the current highest number of people he had taken out solo.

"Too many Eliot," Hardison replied quickly. "I ain't talking like five guys dude. This is more like twenty."

Eliot pressed his lips together tightly. Part of him wanted to take them on, his current record high was taking out seventeen trained soldiers in Mumbai in '99. But the better part of him thought of Parker and how he couldn't risk her while patting his ego on the back.

"Fine. Mission abort," he said grumpily into his com.

He started back towards the safe room. "Parker, time to go."

He got no response.

"Parker? Parker!" he hissed.

Hardison piped up, a notable edge clear in his words.

"Eliot? What the hell is going on man? Those dudes are already in the lobby. Get Parker and get out."

"No kidding….."

Eliot turned the corner into the room where Parker was.

She was practically hugging the safe though Eliot knew she was still working on it and her com was hanging visibly from her ear which she had obviously pulled out at some point earlier.

"Dammit Parker!" he said angrily as he ushered into the room.

"WHAT!?" she turned towards him, annoyance apparent on her face.

Eliot's lip snarled in frustration and he ignored her, speaking directly back to Hardison.

"How far in are they Hardison?"

"Are you still in there? Damn, man! They're everywhere now. Ya'll better find someplace good to hide…..fast."

Eliot rolled his eyes and grabbed Parker hard around her arm and began dragging her with him back towards the outer hallway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Please leave a review....._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

As Eliot approached the doorway, he automatically peered out with a lone blue eye while simultaneously pressing Parker tightly beside him, his hand still gripping her arm. He couldn't yet see their pursuers but he could hear the echoing of many footsteps heading their way.

"Move!" he said in a hushed but forceful breath and he yanked Parker upward and outward into the hallway and in the opposite direction of the increasing footsteps.

Eliot knew that _this_ many men showing up _this_ quickly, after what he presumed was a response to the non-communication with the guards he had taken out, was the signature of an outfit not to be underestimated. He knew all the exits would be covered, so as he dragged a lithe Parker down the empty, dank corridor his thoughts were focused on someplace to hide; at least until Hardison could tell him more of what was happening out there.

As Parker had started her work on the safe, Eliot had taken it upon himself to become accustomed to the layout of the lengthy and maze-like basement of the sinister corporation. He had walked the entirety of the sub-level floor and had seen multiple areas he deemed were suitable for a situation exactly like this.

The area most promising came to mind while he ran towards it, his long flow of hair waving out behind him. The footsteps trailing them were rushed increasingly now, and the pitter-patter of that many feet echoed eerily down the hall behind them.

Finally, the room he remembered appeared before them and Eliot had to practically skid to a stop from their furious pace and shoved Parker in before he entered, closing the metal door quietly shut behind him.

He turned and saw Parker's dark brown eyes were filled with a fright he had not often seen there before and this too increased his senses of having to protect her. He knew she was a capable girl, more than capable in fact, but that physically there was no way she could handle herself against a force of this magnitude, not even he could. Their only option was to hide.

Raising a finger to his lips to signal silence to Parker, he pointed his other hand towards the venthilation grate at the top corner of the room, just a few feet above some rusting metal shelves. Parker looked in the direction that he pointed and immediately began to move towards it, before she stopped and stared at him, a question lingering in her wide serious eyes.

She needn't speak as he understood her concern.

_Where will **you** hide?_

The shaft wasn't big enough for the two of them and Eliot was no fool. He pointed towards a couple of loose floorboards and signaled the motion of his getting down and covering the hole with a nearby file cabinet.

His brow furrowed in anticipation and urgency as he made a stern motion for Parker to hurry up. She gave him a long look that he couldn't quite interpret before she began to move hurriedly, expertly scaling the metal shelves as quietly as he had previously expected from her. As she reached the top though, a loud voice boomed in both their ears just as the footsteps in the hall came back into earshot through the closed thick metal door.

"Um, hellooooo? What's going on people? Where ya'll at?" Hardison squawked.

As Eliot perched over the hole in the ground, just starting to pull the tin file cabinet over himself into position, he and Parker, who was just pulling the metal grate of the shaft back into place, exchanged glances, and with a look of understanding, they both turned off the intercom's in their ears for fear of anyone else hearing its noise.

And as they finally pulled themselves into position, the metal door leading out into the hallway burst open with a tremendous force and in thundered three well-dressed men all wielding guns.

Parker's eyes peered through the slats in the grate, taking in their pursuers and admiring how well-hidden Eliot actually seemed to be in his floor-bound position.

She watched the three men start trashing the room, pointing their guns into every possible corner, searching for them, for some sign of where they might be. She felt confident that they would not be discovered and only hoped they would leave the building and give up the search thinking they had actually escaped before severe hunger began to set in for them both.

As the men completed the room's destruction, she saw one man whom she presumed to be their leader put his hand to his ear, as if listening to his own com from somewhere unseen. He nodded and spoke quietly to the other men, who all nodded in response. To Parker's horror, they all raised their guns towards the ceilings and she knew what was to come next. One of the men was actually pointing his gun pretty close to where Parker was laying but she knew if she moved that they would hear it and that would be it.

She closed her eyes and waited, trying to keep the utter panic that was flowing through her at ease. She always knew one way or another that when she died, it would be doing something like this and not lying in bed as an old fatigued woman. She just never thought it would be this soon.

An enormous crash from below caused Parker's eyelids to fly open and she saw the last thing she could ever have expected.

Eliot had violently shoved the desk from atop his position and nailed the guy closest to him with it, taking him out from the legs, sending the guy face down into the cold hard floor. A broken off floorboard in his hand as he emerged from the hole, Eliot managed to throw it expertly towards the second man, clocking him directly in the face, to which he dropped his gun clattering to the floor and holding his now blood-soaked nose while a moan of pain erupted from his throat.

As Eliot advanced on their leader though, he realized too late he should have taken him out first. The man's previously-drawn weapon simply turned towards him, a brief flash of surprise moving across his face, and then he discharged two bullets from his gun directly into Eliot.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Please leave a review....._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Eliot staggered awkwardly a moment, a strange blank expression flashing across his quickly paling face. He didn't even bother looking down at his wounds while he forced his body to take another step forward toward the well-dressed man who was still wielding the smoking gun.

The man's face turned into an incredulous smile that Eliot took only to mean how was impressed he was over the fact that he hadn't keeled over yet. Eliot could feel his body weakening more and more every second but with every ounce of strength he had, he forced himself to take yet another step towards the gunman.

This time the gunman's face showed annoyance and the next thing Eliot saw was a rather large fist aiming straight for his head before everything went dark.

Parker looked on in fear and awe from her position above, hiding silently, wedged into the slender ventilation shaft. She had to physically cover her mouth with her hands to keep from crying out as Eliot had heroically emerged from his hiding spot to keep the men from shooting in her direction.

For the first moment it had seemed as though Eliot was going to take out all three men easily and then the second moment had proved otherwise. As the gun discharged and Eliot's body had jolted strangely from the impact, it was all Parker could do to keep tears from welling in her eyes.

One bullet had pierced his left thigh and the other had buried itself into his shoulder. And as the first of tears had started to slip down Parker's cheek, she held her breath as she watched Eliot continue to move towards his attacker.

The man below, much to Parker's surprise, did not shoot at Eliot again. He waited a long moment before using his other hand to lay a fist down so hard into Eliot's face that he immediately collapsed into a heap on the dirty storeroom floor.

Eliot appeared unmoving as the man jabbed at his side with his expensive shoe. The other two attackers had collected themselves by now, one wiping his bloody face on a handkerchief and the other hobbling over to his boss with obviously wounded knees.

The boss placed a hand to his ear, obviously reaching for his com, and started to speak.

"We've captured one sir. He's injured but alive. Awaiting further instructions."

He paused as he received his answer, his two lackeys with hopeful expressions that their orders were to kill.

"Yes sir."

The leader turned towards the others and said, "Get a chair. Tie him up. The boss wants answers first."

The other men looked disappointed but one instantly started for the metal chair upturned in the left corner of the room while the other started dragging a bloodied and still unconscious Eliot upright, throwing him into it.

Things were getting really, really bad and Parker wasn't sure what she should do. If she left and crawled her way out to get help through the shaft, she would risk not only getting caught and killed which couldn't help Eliot at all, but by the time she came back with rescue it could be too late.

She knew she should wait and hope that a chance presented itself for her to lower herself down and do something useful.

Eliot's eyes started to flutter open just as one of the men finished tying off his wrists together behind the chair.

Eliot's' head was swaying slightly now as if he were fighting to stay awake and the leader approached him slowly, letting him take a moment to readjust to his surroundings.

"Think you can live long enough to answer some questions?" he asked coldly.

Eliot's eyes focused slightly and his voice came out raspy.

"I'll live long enough to snap your neck…."

The leader smiled widely and started to remove his suit jacket.

"I'm going to rather enjoy this," he said smugly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Please leave a review....._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Parker felt helpless watching from the increasingly warm ventilation shaft high above. Eliot's attackers had tied him to a chair and the leader was now removing his coat in a very deliberate, very unmistakable manner. Parker gulped involuntarily the moment she realized what they were about to do.

The leader tossed his expensive jacket carelessly on the floor behind him and used both his hands to first smooth back his shiny, glistening hair in one fluid motion before he began rolling up his perfectly cuffed shirt sleeves.

"You think you're a real tough guy," the leader said matter-of-factly to Eliot as he continued preparing himself for what was to come.

Eliot simply smiled, a teasing coy sparkle behind his bright, clear, blue eyes.

"Well tough guy, we'll see how tough you are after we've finished here. Something tells me you won't be smiling like that then."

His jacket tossed, his hair slicked back, his sleeves rolled high, the leader drew back his right arm till it was well past his head and let it fly with an enormously powerful punch that landed directly on Eliot's left eye.

Eliot's head snapped back automatically and the metal chair nearly flew backwards only to be caught by the other two thugs before it hit the floor. Parker saw the instant redness and puffiness that was already beginning to emerge on Eliot's face as they lifted him back up and her heart began to thump uncontrollably fast as she wondered how long she could watch this without doing anything to help him.

Every instinct in her body told her to go down there, to help him, but she knew if she did it would only make things worse. She had been in the business long enough to know the difference between helpful and stupid. Although it would make her feel better to have done something, _anything to help him_, ultimately she knew it would not save him.

These thoughts were flying through Parkers mind by the time the leader had already readied himself for another punch. This one landed solid on the left side of Eliot's jaw with a sickly thump, sending a spurt of blood from his mouth as his head moved sideways with the blow.

The spatter of blood caused Parker to close her eyes and she prayed that Eliot could survive long enough to give her a chance to help.

_Please God, please God, please……..I'll do anything you want if you help him……I'll be good from now on, I promise, no more stealing, no more anything……Please just don't let him die……….._

Eliot had regained his composure and was trying to move his jaw from side to side to assess the damage as the leader rubbed his red throbbing knuckles against his own pressed pants.

'Not broken', Eliot thought. _'Not yet.'_

"Is that all you got?" Eliot said strongly, staring hard into the eyes of his tormentor.

The man smiled back. "Not even close."

He looked towards the others behind Eliot and said swiftly, "Sullivan, give me your knife."

Eliot and Parker's state of panic both began to rise with those five words, though Parker's state was momentarily worse. Eliot had been through enough situations in his life to know exactly how much he could handle, and if worse came to worse, he knew how to end the situation before it did become more than could be taken. He preferred it not to come to that though as it would kill him and he just hoped this guy wasn't as skilled with a knife as he himself happened to be.

The man from behind Eliot's left shoulder pulled a medium sized knife from a well-hidden ankle strap and handed it over, handle first to the leader, before giving Eliot a knowing smile as he did.

The leader let the knife glisten in front of Eliot's eyes for a moment and a flash of information flowed through Eliot's mind as he recognized what type of knife it was.

It was a Jameson 750 knife; a double serrated edge with a small nodule hook towards the end. In other words, Eliot knew, it was a blade constructed solely for the purpose of giving the recipient the utmost possible pain that a knife surely could. He groaned inwardly.

Before he could think anything else, he grunted hard as the blade was plunged deep into his right shoulder and tears immediately sprang to his eyes. The pain was monstrous and it was all Eliot could do not to cry out in pain.

Parker gasped and after a moment, a new kind of rage began to fill her veins in place of all the hopelessness and the fear.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Please leave a review....._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The slick haired man retracted the knife from Eliot's shoulder making a sickly noise only partially recognizable through Eliot's anguished gasps.

Tears flowed down Parker's cheeks and she felt a decision forming deep in her mind; a decision she knew which would probably be the end of her. It didn't matter though. Eliot would do it for her, in fact he was doing it now. And the thought of witnessing the death of someone she had come to care about without doing anything to try and stop it was unforgivable. She slowly wound her fingers along the metal clasps that held the ventilation grate in place and took a deep breath.

As the slick haired man positioned himself for an abdomen knife strike, he suddenly paused and put a hand to his ear again, obviously receiving a transmission.

"Yes?…Now?….Are you sure?"

A grimace began to grow on the man's face and he gestured for the other two to head out into the hall.

"Yes sir. Of course." He tapped his earpiece once more and tucked the bloody knife into his pants angrily.

He looked at Eliot who was doubled over in pain, bleeding from multiple wounds, and heaving labored breaths.

"I'll be back for you tough guy. Don't think about dying just yet."

Eliot tried to smile but he knew it came out lopsided.

"Wouldn't…dream of it…..bitch."

The slick haired man made a face and joined his comrades in the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him.

Parker's breath caught in her throat and she breathed her first real breath since Eliot had been discovered.

_Thank you God_, she prayed silently.

She unhinged the grate and slipped down silently back onto the floor.

She took a few steps towards Eliot and moved behind him, quickly untying the binds behind him.

"Parker…" he said hoarsely. "Please…..just go."

"No way Jose," Parker said quietly, forcing her fingers to work quicker.

Eliot coughed and spit blood on the floor. "Parker, I'm begging you. Get the hell out of here. These guys are going to kill you if they catch you and I…..I can't protect you anymore," his voice broke.

Parker finished his binds and whirled around to see him from the front. His face was swollen and red and there was oozing blood all over body.

"I won't leave you," she said solemnly. "I could never leave you."

Eliot looked at her straight on. His glassy eyes were sad and tired and Parker barely contained the lump in her throat.

"Up we go," Parker whispered secretively gesturing with her eyes up to the open ventilation shaft.

Eliot nodded slowly after a moment and raised an arm to have her help him up.

He gritted his teeth and spittle flew from his mouth as Parker assumed he held back a scream of agony. She helped him climb up and barely had the strength to give him aid in his movements. She whisked in after him as he loudly thumped onto the metallic coolness of the shafts.

He dragged himself along the shaft with one arm for fifty feet or so. Parker trailed behind him, trying not to look down at the blood streaks she passed through.

**Sorry an update took so long. Here's hoping for Season Three! Please leave a review...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Parker kept her eyes front and refused to look back. More than twice Eliot had to stop to gain his composure; uncontrolled coughs and gurgles were retching from his mouth. There was nothing Parker could do to aid or comfort him in these small metallic ventilation shafts they were combing though like rats in a maze.

It was all she could do to wait patiently and not reveal the panic she felt as the sounds of pursuers gained increasingly from behind. It took about half an hour for her to be sure, but she knew now they were definitely in the shafts behind them. All it would take was for them to catch up and they would be shot from behind and there was nothing either of them could do about it.

If her mind could only remember the blueprints she had studied before the con, she could remember which way to turn in this tin labyrinth, to remember which way led to escape. But her thoughts were so jumbled, so frenzied, so preoccupied with Eliot's rapidly failing health that it was all she could do to keep crawling forward behind him, intentionally averting her eyes from the blood trail she followed.

After another few minutes of crawling, the tunnels opened up to a sort of intersection, giving them headspace to at least sit up and not remain on all fours. Eliot got there first and propped himself up painfully, into an upright sitting position, breathing far too rapidly and holding a bloodied hand to the shoulder that had suffered the excruciating knife wound.

Parker crawled up beside him and positioned herself next to him, also now upright. There were small shafts of light beaming in from discrepancies in the craftsmanship of the shafts and it was enough to see the intense pain he reflected in his face.

"What can I do Eliot?" she said desperately. "Please…tell me what to do."

He sighed inwardly, a soft gasp escaping his mouth as he attempted to shift to ease the pain in his shoulder.

"Nothing Parker. There's nothing you can do, believe me. I wish there was."

Parker's ears perked slightly at the muffled voices echoing in the not-too-far distance behind them.

"I hear them too. They've been following us for some time and they'll be on us sooner than I'd hoped. You have to keep going Parker." He winced suddenly and a spurt of blood trickled through his fingers holding the wound on his shoulder.

"No way!" Parker exclaimed. "If we just-"

"Parker!" Eliot yelled harshly not letting her finish her thought. "I NEED you to keep going. I'm just slowing you down and I'm losing too much blood to keep crawling through these damned vents much longer." His voice softened. "So _please, _I'm asking you to keep going. Tell Nate-" His voice broke momentarily but he kept going. "Tell him I'm sorry, but we knew one day it would end this way."

Parker saw how determined he was, how tired he looked. Her heart felt torn from her chest. She knew him so well yet had never seen this look of defeat and acceptance glisten in his eyes before. She knew he wouldn't move from this spot now, no matter what she said and she also knew he was right about losing too much blood.

Without thinking, her hand reached out to his face and laid softly on his cheek, feeling the slight edge of stubble around his cheekbone.

He looked at her quizzically through slightly drooping eyes. "Parker…what are you-"

She moved her face towards his so they were merely centimeters apart, her hand still on his cheek. She spoke quietly but intently making sure he understood every word through his daze of suffering.

"If this doesn't work, I want you to know how grateful I am for what you did for me back there; for what you do for _all of us, every day, _Eliot. If this doesn't work, I want you to know that you are important to this world and that you truly mattered; you were a part of something that was good and that you made a difference."

She paused for a moment before making her decision while he watched her unsure and taken aback.

"And if this doesn't work, I want to know…..no, I _have _to know what it would have been like."

His eyes looked confused. His voice was barely a whisper. "What _what_ would have been like?"

She closed her eyes slowly and leaned forward gently as to not hurt him any worse and placed her lips upon his.

He protested for half a second before he kissed her back.

Parker pulled back slowly after a moment, trying to sear the moment into her mind before she cocked back her fist which was now holding the pulley she always kept at her belt and clocked Eliot hard in the head.

He saw the movement all too late and it instantaneously knocked him out cold.

Parker knew she had no time to waste and attached the pulley to the belt loops of his blue jeans. She eased his head to the metallic ground softly and using all her might she pulled him through the shafts, forcing herself to remember the exit route from the blueprints, not letting herself think of anyone or anything else.

The reached the exit in time where Nate, Sophie, and Hardison were waiting frantically. Parker barked at them to take Eliot from her and drive to a hospital before any of them even spoke. They took one look at Eliot and moved without uttering a word. Parker climbed into the back of the van with them, exhausted, worried, and confused.

**To be continued…**


End file.
